NEW VERSION: Blago signs $1 billion electric rate relief plan

Nearly a month after a $1 billion electric rate relief plan reached his desk, Gov. Rod Blagojevich signed it into law Tuesday at the DuQuoin State Fair in deep southern Illinois.

The measure is meant to help customers of the Ameren Illinois utilities and Commonwealth Edison, who saw their power rates rise dramatically this year after a long-standing electric rate freeze expired. Ameren customers in southern Illinois were among the hardest hit.

Some lawmakers and Attorney General Lisa Madigan, who helped negotiate the $1 billion relief plan, had urged the governor to act on the legislation soon after he received it on July 31.

But Blagojevich, whose office didn't participate in the negotiations, repeatedly said he would take his time to review the complicated measure and try to ensure it offered a good deal to consumers. The state Constitution gave him 60 days to consider any legislation.

The new law gets rid of the "reverse auction" process that was used last year to set 2007 electric rates. The newly created Illinois Power Agency now will be charged with planning for Illinois' energy future.

In a news release, the Democratic governor called the electric rate relief plan "a good starting point."

"After carefully reviewing it, I believe it will provide immediate relief and put us in a position to keep working on longer-term electricity issues that need to be addressed to ensure that electricity in Illinois is affordable," he said.

The relief plan consists of various components. For instance, part of it calls for giving Ameren and ComEd customers credits on future power bills to diminish the size of rate increases that took effect this year. Ameren customers also could receive rebate checks, as long as they are not too far behind in paying their bills.

Another part of the legislation calls for long-term contracts aimed at keeping future electricity costs as low as possible for consumers. One of the five-year contracts is between the Ameren Illinois utilities and Ameren Energy Marketing, and the other is between Commonwealth Edison and Exelon. Both concern buying power at locked-in prices.

The Ameren contract already has expired and been renegotiated at least twice. The ComEd/Exelon pact has a Sept. 5 expiration date.